Curve Ball
From TNT: Christmas vacation is interrupted for the Major Crimes Division when a baseball scout is found dead in his RV. The squad works through the murder case, unfolding a complicated kidnapping scheme. Meanwhile, Rusty opens up to Dr. Joe about his mother. The Victim *Vince Massey *Mark Brooks *Rory Brooks The Suspects *Mr. Bennett *Hunt Massey *Craig Fowler *Mark Brooks *Luke Dalton Evidence Closing the Case With the help of Vince's son Hunt, the squad accesses his Cloud Saver account and finds a video of the last game he scouted where he focused on a pitcher, Reed Downy who could pitch with both hands and got him into an altercation with one of the other fathers, Craig Fowler. Checking the baseball field after seeing Vince's RV in the background of the video, they find glass from the RV's smashed-out window, showing that is where the murder took place. Interrogating Craig, he tells them he was pissed as Vince was supposed to be scouting his son but focused on Reed who was nothing special which Hunt agrees with. Wondering if maybe Vince was interested in Reed because he was possibly too old, Julio checks his birth certificate and finds out it's a fake. The squad bring in Reed for questioning and Julio gives him money to buy a snack from the vending machine. Tao lifts Reed's thumbprint off of the machine and discovers from it that Reed is actually Rory Brooks, a boy who was kidnapped from Joplin, Missouri nine years before by his father. Hunt, who has been thinking Rory looked familiar, finally realizes his connection to his father: Hunt is from Joplin and lived there when Rory was kidnapped. His father was not only aware of the abduction, but he organized a church fundraiser to search for him. They figure he recognized Rory and was murdered by his father to protect the secret. Sykes finds an article online saying that Rory's father, Mark's car was found at the Mexican border four days after the abduction and it was believed they fled to Mexico. The squad waits for Mark to arrive to pick him up, using a picture from the newspaper article and alert his mother that they have found her son. A man shows up and identifies himself as Rory's father, but is clearly not Mark Brooks. On Doctor Joe's advice, Raydor confronts Rory with the news of his abduction and pictures of himself at six years old when he was kidnapped and of his mother who Rory believes abandoned him. They show him a website his mother has maintained since his disappearance to look for him with messages on it from her to him monthly. While at first he denies it, he finally accepts the truth and tells them that his real father woke him up one night and took him on a car ride. He fell asleep and was woken by a loud noise after which the man who has been pretending to be his father, Luke Dalton, entered the car. They find a missing person's report for Luke from Tulsa, Oklahoma shortly after the kidnapping and interrogate Luke, offering him life in prison without parole rather than the death sentence and having to face trial in Missouri for the kidnapping of Rory and murder of Mark. They also have Rory's mother arriving soon who will be able to recognize him. Luke finally breaks down and explains he had an affair with Mrs. Brooks while her husband was in Iraq. However, she broke it off when Mark returned to the United States. Mark was abusive and the mother emailed him saying she was afraid of him again. Luke lured Mark out and killed him to prevent him from hurting anyone else, but didn't anticipate the presence of Rory and he had two choices: kill him or take him with him. He decided to take Rory and fled to Mexico where they got new identities and eventually returned to the United States. Over the nine years that followed, Luke made Rory believe his parents had abandoned him and he was all he had. After the baseball game, Vince approached him about Rory, recognizing him from Joplin due to knowing his family from church and the fact that Rory was known to be able to pitch with both hands. Luke approached him afterwards and asked if he had pictures of Rory and was invited in to look at them. Knowing Vince intended to expose him, Luke murdered him and made it look like a robbery so he could take Vince's laptop and video camera memory card which had the video footage without drawing suspicion. Hunt is disappointed that this is it and Hobbs offers him the choice to have her ignore the deal Raydor offered and instead extradite Luke to Missouri where he will be tried for the kidnapping of Rory and the murder of Mark resulting in Rory spending years on the witness stand recounting his story through the trials and appeals that will follow to put Luke Dalton to death. Hunt chooses to let things end as they are and the deal is made. Hobbs later tells Hunt that Luke has informed them of where to find Mark's body and if he is telling the truth, he will go in front of a judge in two days and then go to prison for the rest of his life. They will also be able to release his father's RV to him and Provenza gives him the Christmas gift Vince had set aside for his son. At the same time, Rory's mother Cassy arrives and is finally reunited with her son, leaving the squad wondering what's going through their minds after so many years apart. Guest Cast * Daniel Reichert as Luke Dalton * Jansen Panettiere as Rory Brooks Recurring * Bill Brochtrup as Doctor Joe Bowman * Noah Weisberg as Defense Attorney Roland Jennings Locations Episode Notes *First appearance of recurring character Doctor Joe Bowman, better known as "Doctor Joe." Trivia Episode Media Category:Major Crimes Category:MC Season 2 Category:Episodes Category:Directed by: Jon Tenney